On the Way to a Home
by ClulessHamlet
Summary: [Oneshot] When Cloud's cells go haywire, Reno makes sure the doctors do their job. But can Reno put his life back together after he receives a fatal bullet wound? One year after AC.


ClulessHamlet does not own the rights to Square-Enix

* * *

The pleasant smell of the city soothed Reno as he walked down the busy streets. The letter he had been ordered to deliver was safely tucked into his jacket pocket, the seal still on. He never nosed into his superiors' business, especially not when this business was so top secret it needed a Turk to ensure its delivery.

The sky was a pleasant gray, threatening rain. Reno still remembered that rain last year that had cured most of the children in Midgar of their Geostigma. It had even cured his boss, Rufus, and he had been picking through the remains of Shinra Inc. ever since.

Reno opened the door to the 7th Heaven bar and shut it silently behind him. To his surprise, Cloud was standing behind the bar cleaning an empty glass. He looked up.

"Reno," he said quietly, the surprise evident in his mako-affected eyes.

"Hey, Cloud!" Reno said cheerily. "Got a letter for ya. Where's Tifa?"

"Upstairs," he said, putting the glass away and drying his hands on a towel. "She's resting."

"Resting?" Reno inquired, sitting on the barstool in front of Cloud and placing the letter on the counter. Cloud leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Morning sickness," he said slowly, like she might walk in and overhear.

"She trying to deal with it by herself," Reno asked.

"Yeah," Cloud sighed and began pulling the letter open. Reno stood up.

"I'd better go," he said, turning around, "that's supposed to be top secret." He turned back to give him a wave and a smile, but he'd disappeared.

"Cloud…" he started to say. He was cut off by a very loud groan from behind the bar. He jumped the counter and found Cloud lying on the floor, hands clenched on his head and teeth clenched.

"Cloud, calm down," he tried to pull him into a sitting position, but got a glimpse of his eyes instead. The pupils were constricting into slits. There was some comprehension there, but mostly confusion.

_What's going on?_ he seemed to be asking.

Reno flipped out his phone and called Tseng.

"Yes, Reno," his cool voice answered.

"I delivered the letter, but now he's all weird," Reno yelled, whining a little.

"What do you me-"

"He's having some kind of goddamn attack! His eyes are acting up, but he doesn't have Geostigma anymore! What the fu-"

"I'll have someone come down," Tseng interrupted, hanging up. Reno groaned and tried to calm Cloud, who was still having spasms, but Reno could tell he was slowly passing out. Not being able to sit by and do nothing, he pulled Cloud out in front of the bar and laid him down.

_Tifa should know,_ he thought. He went to open the door to upstairs, but she came out. Reno gave her a worried look, looking back at Cloud then back at her a couple of times. He made a whining noise and sighed, pointing to Cloud's now prone form. She followed the direction and gasped as she saw Cloud lying on the ground. She called out and ran to shake him.

Reno heard footsteps on the stairs and, to his horror, he saw the two kids they lived with coming down. He ran into the stairwell and shut the door behind him. He smiled awkwardly and tilted his head at them. He didn't want them to see their adoptive father lying on the floor—near death for all Reno knew.

"Hey, um, they're uh…taking care of something important out there," Reno searched around for something to tell them. "Why dontcha go back upstairs and wait for them to finish?" he suggested lamely.

"Is it a surprise?" the girl asked. Reno could have kissed her.

"Yes, it's a big surprise!" Reno put his arms out wide for emphasis. They laughed and he shepherded them upstairs. They pulled him into their room. He sat down on the bed. He didn't need to look around, he'd seen the same room last year when he'd carried Cloud unconscious from the church. He smiled at them.

"So, whatcha wanna do while we wait?" he asked them. Just then he heard the door downstairs open and gruff voices carried up the stairs. He got up and shut the door so the kids wouldn't hear.

"Hey let's play tag," the boy said. He ran up to Reno and smacked him on the arm. "You're it!" he yelled running across the room.

"Oh am I?" he asked, smirking. He dived across the room and snatched them both up, flopping down on the bed and tickling them. They squealed childishly and tickled him back. Despite himself, he found himself laughing with them, continuing the tickle fight until tears were coming from his eyes.

"Reno, what on earth is going on?" Tseng's voice called. Reno froze, looking up and being knocked off the bed. He caught the two kids so they wouldn't get hurt, then flipped them back onto the bed. They laughed again and he rumpled their hair, turning back to Tseng.

"I was just making sure the kids didn't see anything," he said, winking. Tseng nodded.

"Well, we've taken Cloud back to Shinra to, er, _talk_ to Rufus-san, so we'll be heading out now." Tseng walked back downstairs and Reno turned back to the kids.

"Seeya later!" he smiled. They smiled back and he walked down the stairs. Tseng was talking to Tifa in the doorway. They looked up as he approached. Tifa threw herself on him in a hug.

"Thank you," she whispered. He noted that her throat was obviously sore either from crying or the morning sickness Cloud had mentioned. He gave her a small smile.

"No problem, I like kids anyway." He pulled away from her and followed Tseng out the door. They climbed into a Shinra helicopter and were off.

* * *

Cloud was a sorry sight indeed the next day. There was apparently an abnormality of his cells that being so close to Sephiroth had caused. It was raising his blood pressure to unusually high rates and was the cause of his bizarre heart attack the day before.

Reno contemplated this as he stood behind the glass that separated him from the room where Cloud was laying motionless in a room so white that all the wires made it seem like a spider's lair. He was connected to god-knows-how-many machines by various cords, like a fly in the trap.

Reno was perusing the report that Rufus' newest team of doctors had written up. The question was, where were those doctors now? Cloud was the only living soul in his cell, when there was supposed to be a crack team of them watching every flutter of his eyelash, every movement of his stiff hair.

Reno leaned on the wall behind him and sighed. Rufus was due to come survey the situation and read the damned report himself any minute now. The whole letter thing had been about him wondering if Cloud would accept a job as the new SOLDIER representative.

In the past year Rufus had used his seemingly endless supply of money to begin rebuilding Shinra. They were going to spend money on finding a way to produce energy without mako in the hopes that they could rebuild the empire. However, no one was supposed to know he was rehiring because Rufus was sure that there would be a rebellion and he didn't have any forces to staunch it. Reno at least took comfort in knowing that he and the other three Turks were there in case anybody tried to hurt Rufus.

Reno started at an odd beeping noise coming from Cloud's general direction. He ran back up to the glass and saw that he was indeed having another attack.

And there were no doctors running to save him.

Reno panicked. There was no way to page the friggin' doctors yet and there wasn't anything he could do, was there?

Reno thought of the two kids Cloud lived with. What would they do without him?

He found himself running into the room, the automatic glass doors making a swishing noise as if to punctuate his hurried footsteps. He found an oxygen mask and brought it up to cloud's face, hoping it would help. As he checked to make sure it was on, he heard footsteps in the hall where he had been standing and Rufus was at the glass looking in on him, along with Tseng, Elena, and Rude.

Reno threw his arm out to indicate the room was empty and gave them a pleading look. Tseng ran off down the hallway with Elena on his tail and Rufus and Rude ran into the room.

"What the hell is this Reno?" Rufus asked. Reno shuffled his feet and kept giving him that look that told them both he was still panicking and had no idea.

Rude came over to see if he could help and there was a gunshot outside that ricocheted off the wall but hurt no one. The doctors all came running back in to do their job. One of them pushed Reno out of the way and began attending to Cloud. Reno, at a loss, continued to move as if he needed to do something. Rude put a hand on his shoulder and guided him out behind Rufus. They sat him on the ground in the hall. Little by little he calmed himself and finally stood up to report.

"He was having ano-"

"I know, Reno," Rufus interrupted. Reno sighed and leaned back against the wall, running a hand through his hair and knocking his glasses askew.

"And what exactly were those doctors doing Tseng?" Rufus inquired.

"I found them a few rooms down with a prostitute," Tseng said calmly.

"A _what_?" Reno screeched.

"Relax, Reno," Rude said, looking him in the eyes through his glasses. Reno banged his head on the wall.

"Well, we'll just have to hire more professional doctors," Rufus said. "Reno, I want you to keep an eye on the ones we have now, since you're obviously so passionate about helping Cloud." He looked Reno in the eyes as well. There was concern coming at him. This seemed to calm him a little and he nodded.

"Rude, assist him." Rude nodded as well. Rufus gave Tseng a look and Tseng pulled two semi-automatics out of the inside of his suit and tossed them. Reno caught his and stowed it in his back pocket. Rude's went into his suit jacket. Rufus nodded again and he snatched the report off the ground from where Reno had dropped it. He stalked off with Tseng and Elena following close on his tail.

* * *

That night Rude treated him to dinner at his place. He wasn't a good cook, so they ordered out. Rude pulled out some whiskey and poured him a couple of shots. They'd left the lazy-ass doctors chugging away at Cloud and locked the door so that only a Turk could have opened it.

"Well," Reno said after he'd finished his chow mein and half the whiskey bottle, "what do we do now?" Rude shrugged. Reno smirked at his emotionless friend and flopped down on his couch. Rude pulled over a chair and sat down at the end where his head was.

"Something on your mind," Rude asked.

"You know me too well," Reno sighed, "yeah, those kids at Cloud's place. What would they do without him?"

"Dunno," Rude said.

"Well, that's what got me so worked up earlier," Reno said, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. Then he took a look at it and sighed again.

"Gonna quit?" Rude asked.

"Think I already have," Reno said, throwing the unlit cigarette to the floor, "this pack's from before we dropped the Sector 7 plate. I haven't had a single one since."

"You don't need them," Rude observed.

"Nope," Reno almost laughed.

"You thinking of having kids or something?" Rude asked, pulling him back to the subject.

"Nah," Reno said, "I gave up on the idea of settling down a long time ago. I've been with too many women to treat a family with the right amount of respect. I've probably contracted some kind of STD by now, wouldn't you think? You know what else I haven't had since before the plate dropped?" he asked, looking up at Rude. "A good fuck."

Rude chuckled. Reno sighed again. Would he ever stop doing that now?

"I have always liked kids though," he said, looking at Rude's tan-colored wall. He closed his eyes and was asleep before Rude had realized it. He opened his mouth to say something, but finally took a look at his relaxed face. Rude smiled and went off to bed.

* * *

Reno stood in the doorway of Cloud's room watching the doctors work. By now they had all somehow manufactured the idea in their heads that Reno had ratted them out to Rufus and that he was the cause of them losing their jobs as soon as replacements were found. Reno wondered how it would have gone unnoticed anyway. Surely not Cloud's dead body?

Cloud was, although, doing much better. The situation seemed to be petering out of its own accord and Cloud was already sitting up in bed most of the time. Right now Tifa was here visiting him. She'd apparently gotten over her morning sickness and was staring to show.

Reno smiled as Tifa planted a kiss on his cheek. Cloud, not being the particularly romantic type, just smiled a little. Tifa turned to leave. Rude, however, had gone off to get some coffee and was not there to escort her back to the entrance. Rufus' orders were clear; _everybody_ visiting had an escort in and out. Reno locked the door behind her, deciding he'd just take her out himself and get back as quickly as he could. They couldn't do anything if the door was locked, right?

Just as they were at the end of the glass wall of the room Reno heard a gunshot.

He went down fast, the bullet burying itself near his heart. He yelled in pain as blood appeared on his shirt.

"Reno!" Tifa yelled. There was a second gunshot. Reno looked to Tifa but she was looking down the hall where Rude had shot the rebellious doctor.

Reno tried to sit up, but the pain was too much and he fell back down clutching his chest. The Rude was there yelling something to someone behind him. Another doctor appeared and began to assess Reno's wound.

Reno vaguely heard Rufus' voice as his vision began to blur. He felt the doctor touch his back and press down, which sent a spasm of pain through his body. He almost screamed, then his head hit the floor and everything slowly became black.

* * *

Rufus was pissed off. Reno was at this moment undergoing surgery. He had replaced the old doctors with new ones and they had proved to be much more dedicated to their work. Cloud was now almost ready to release, and they were certain he would never have another relapse.

Reno on the other hand, was still critical condition and they still couldn't guarantee he would live.

Rufus was finding it very hard to stay focused on his work. Images of a bloody Reno lying in the hallway kept penetrating his thoughts. Reno was, after all, one of his Turks.

His Turks. He hadn't hired them, but they were like his family. Always there and always loyal to him and Shinra. But most of all to him. If even one of them were to die…

Rufus' thoughts were interrupted by Elena offering him a cup of coffee.

"He's conscious," she said softly as Rufus took the hot Styrofoam cup from her. "The surgery was successful and they're saying he'll recover. But it will take some time."

Rufus would have ran his hand through his hair in relief of it wouldn't have undone the hour of gelling it took every morning to make him look professional.

"Let's go see him," he said. They called Tseng and went over to the medical area.

Reno was lying propped up on the mound of pillows Rude had pulled out for him, trying to be helpful. Reno's chest moved slowly from the soreness he was still feeling. Rude was trying to coax him into eating something, but was being ignored.

"You need to get your strength up," Rude was saying. Reno just took a deep breath that Rufus was sure must have been very painful.

"He's right you know," he said.

Reno opened one eye to look at him. He smiled.

"I really fucked myself up this time, huh?" he said quietly. Then his eyes tightened to deal with the pain that talking brought. Rufus put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault." he said. "Just be glad those sons-a-bitches are gone now and you can recover in peace." Reno smiled again, but he was in too much pain to say any more.

"Shouldn't he be on painkillers?" he asked Rude.

"Won't take 'em." Rude replied. Rufus sighed and motioned for one of the doctors to come over.

"Can't you put something in his IV if he won't take the goddamn pills?" he asked. The doctor nodded and went over to the drip. She pulled a case out from under the bed, prepared something, and injected it into the bag at the top. Replacing the case, she went back over to where she and another doctor had been discussing the need for another surgery.

Rufus waited to make sure Reno was okay. After about five minutes he seemed to be having a better time of it and fell asleep. Rude fluffed his pillows.

Rufus just smiled and turned to leave. Elena and Tseng both gave Rude reassuring nods and followed. Rufus stopped at the door.

"By the way, Rude, I think if you gave him any more pillows we might lose him in all the batting." Rude smiled and Rufus turned and left.

He loved his Turks.

* * *

Two weeks later Reno was laying in bed back in his apartment and staring at the ceiling. He had outright refused having a nurse come and watch over him, but was regretting that now that he was too tired to go get something to eat. He hadn't eaten since that morning.

A full bottle of painkillers was on the bedside table that he absolutely would not take thanks to his pride. His cell phone lay next to them along with the semi-automatic that he had still had in his pocket when he'd been shot. Just looking at it made his chest hurt.

Rufus had suggested he go find someone to stay with. Reno had lied and said he knew someone, but had gone straight to his apartment and hadn't left it since. Rude had come every night since with more Chinese food. Reno was kind of hoping he'd come again.

He settled himself further under the large pile of blankets Rude had piled over him. He'd been too lazy to put them all back so he just left them all on his bed to build a wall between him and the outside world. Their thickness was somewhat comforting.

Reno's door opened. He was too tired to sit up, but put his hand on the bedside table near the gun, just in case. He was pretty sure it was Rude but he could never be certain.

A figure appeared in the doorway that Reno recognized to be none other than Cloud.

"Hey," he said, letting his hand fall back down to the bed, "feeling better?"

"Yeah, Rude told me what you did," he said in that grave voice he had. "He also told me where to find you."

"Figured," Reno said, "something wrong?" Cloud sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at him.

"You shouldn't be alone," was all he said. Reno grunted out loud. "Tifa…suggested you come stay with us until you're back on your feet."

Reno had to think about this. He knew Rude had suggested it to Cloud because of the two kids he lived with that Reno had somehow taken a liking to. It wasn't a bad idea in theory. And he wouldn't be so bored.

"I guess," Reno said slowly, "if you'll have me."

Cloud gave Reno the most sincere smile he'd ever see on that blonde head. Reno sat up, snatching his cell phone, and Cloud helped him out. He left a note on the kitchen table for Rude so he wouldn't worry and made sure to lock the door. Cloud supported him down to the street and helped him climb onto his motorcycle.

* * *

Reno awoke the next day feeling dizzy. He noticed that his bottle of painkillers had somehow followed him there, and had acquired a half-empty glass of water to keep it company. Someone had forced them down while he'd been asleep.

Reno opened his phone to see he had two messages waiting for him. He dialed his voicemail and listened. The first was from Rude.

_Glad you're okay. Rufus says take as long as you need. Beep._

The second was from Tseng and Elena who alternated wishing him a speedy recovery. Reno smiled. He was glad they were there for him.

Just then, Cloud walked in. We walked over to the bed.

"Okay?" he asked. Reno nodded, sitting up even though his head was spinning slightly. Cloud put a hand on his shoulder to steady him and looked him in the eye.

"I'm fine," Reno said. He smiled a little but it only intensified his headache.

"The kids want to see you," Cloud said, walking back to the door. Reno nodded and he let them in. They ran up to him and gave him a big hug. Reno heard the door shut.

"Uncle Reno," the girl said, "Cloud said you were sick." She put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yeah, but I'll get better," Reno said, putting his arm around her. The boy sat down on the edge of the bed. Reno was sure he was imagining it, but he thought he saw a bit of sympathy on his face.

"Well," Reno said smiling, "I don't think we were properly introduced. You are?" he said, tickling the girl under her chin.

"Marlene," she giggled. He went for the boy but he grabbed Reno's hand.

"Denzel," he smiled.

"Well then," Reno chuckled, "what's up." They proceeded to fill his ears with childish banter about what they had done since they last saw him, including eating too much ice cream and throwing up on Cloud when he finally got home. Tifa had somehow managed to hide the fact that Cloud had been in the Shinra building experiencing a hell of a lot of pain for a month or so. Reno sat around while they played in the room he had been put in and watched. Finally, it was their bedtime.

"Uncle Reno will you read us a story?" Marlene pleaded. Reno couldn't deny her, and they ran back to their rooms to get a book. Tifa walked in to check on him.

"Everything okay? They're not driving you up the wall are they?" she asked.

"Nah," he replied, "they're so damn cute." He leaned back on the bed and took a deep breath. He was getting sore again. Tifa walked over and opened the bottle of painkillers.

"No," he said, "I don't need th-"

He was cut off by Tifa throwing the pills into his open mouth and tilting his head back so he was forced to swallow them.

"What the hell did Cloud get himself into?" he asked her. She laughed and left as the kids came running back in with five or six books more than he had expected. He read them every one until they were sound asleep on either side of him and he himself was snoring.

* * *

Cloud came up to make the kids go to bed. The sight of all three of them asleep was enough to earn another rare Cloud smile. Cloud pulled the kids off him as silently as he could and carried their sleeping little bodies back to their room. Coming back, he found that moving Denzel had caused Reno to fall off the bed, but somehow he had not woken up. Cloud bent over him to check his pulse.

_Slow..._ he thought. He pulled Reno back into bed and pulled the covers all the way up to his chin. He decided he would take the kids out tomorrow so Reno could rest. He turned off the lamp and left the room.

* * *

Reno didn't wake until noon the next day. His chest ached and he felt nauseous. He tried to get up to go to the bathroom but found he couldn't move again. Tifa came in not long after and he asked her to help him. She was very calm about it; she even held his hair out of his face so it wouldn't get messy. She then had to carry him bodily back to bed where he immediately passed out.

* * *

The next time Reno awoke, it was to find a presence sitting next to him. He looked up groggily into the silent face of Rude. Reno smiled at him, only to find he was even weaker than yesterday. Rude sat him up and offered him a sandwich. Reno accepted and ate it slowly for fear he would hurt himself even more.

Rude just sat there and watched. He didn't need to say anything, Reno knew he was worried. Reno was certain he was just glad he was eating something willingly. Finally finished, he sighed.

"Rufus sent me to check on you," Rude said, "mentioned something about Cloud calling and saying you weren't doing too good." Reno shook his head. He hadn't known he'd worried them.

"Yeah, I kinda just keep relapsing," he finally said, "And it's starting to hurt again." Rude looked sympathetic. Reno just looked at the covers, folding and twisting the edge with his hands for lack of something to say. They sat like that for a while before Reno's phone rang.

"Hey, it's me," he said, flipping it open. Rufus' voice came through.

"_My god, you're awake," _he said.

"Yeah, decided I was sleeping too much," he said, giving Rude a wink. Rude laughed. Reno knew he would appreciate this little comeback of his character.

"_Well, as long as you don't get shot again. I really didn't like cleaning up your blood._" Rufus said, his worriedness obviously melting away. Reno smiled.

"So then why'd you call me?" Reno asked.

"_Just checking,_" Rufus said.

"Worry wart," Reno accused. Rufus just laughed and hung up.

"So what's really on your mind, Reno?" Rude asked. Reno's smile disappeared.

_It oughtta be illegal to know someone so well..._ he thought.

"In truth," Reno said, "I'm depressed. This is, unfortunately, affecting my ability to keep up my energy." Rude nodded for him continue. "You were right before, I _want_ to settle down. Trouble is I can't. I know myself well enough to know I'll never be able to give a woman the proper respect she needs, and if we did have kids I'd never be around. I love my job too much, Rude. I love Shinra Inc. I love you, Tseng, Rufus, even Elena when she shuts up. I can't give up my happiness with my friends just because I'm getting soft." Here he paused because his chest was bothering him again. Rude offered him some painkillers, which he took just to shut him up. He was really hurting this time.

Rude must have noticed, because Reno felt him help him lay down and pull the covers up. Reno fussed a little before he finally calmed down. He looked up at Rude.

"Guess I'm not so tough after all," he croaked. He saw something like pity on Rude's face. He heard footsteps and Tifa appeared.

"How much did you hear?" Rude asked her.

"The whole thing," she replied. Reno looked the other way to hide his blush.

"Reno," she said, "I have a suggestion." He sighed and looked back at her. "You can't be a father right?" he nodded.

"Why don't you try being a _godfather_?" Tifa asked.

"To who-" Reno started.

"Denzel and Marlene love you," she said, "and our baby's due in six months."

Reno sat up and stared at her, ignoring the pain that consumed his chest. Why had he never thought of that...?

Rude gave him a genuine smile.

* * *

Two weeks alter Reno was back on his feet at Shinra. He no longer felt any pain, and if he started, he had the most adorable picture of his _godchildren_ to stare at framed on his desk. It was the first personal picture he'd ever put out.

Reno was shifting a mound of files that was stacked in no particular order on his desk when Rufus walked in.

"Well, let's see," he said. Reno turned the silver frame toward him. Rufus picked it up and looked at Marlene and Denzel's faces. He smiled.

"It's good that you finally have a family. You make a great dad." Reno smiled and walked around the desk to embrace Rufus.

"And you make a great friend," he said.

Rufus hugged him back. Pulling away, he asked, "So you're living with Cloud now?"

"Yeah," Reno said, "and the dumbass won't let me pay rent. Figures that would happen the moment I actually want to. I should have moved in with him years ago,"

Rufus laughed. "Join me and the others for a drink?"

"Yeah, but don't let me drink too much because I don't want them to see me all shit-faced." Reno said.

"Well, you have changed," Rufus said, leading him out into the hall where Rude, Tseng, and Elena were waiting.


End file.
